It was found that Dojima Exchange (ODEX) is preparing to apply for listing of Bitcoin futures. Bloomberg reported the news on March 4th. According to it, ODEX aims to start the transaction as early as fiscal 2025, subject to approval by the Financial Services Agency.

In the U.S., although Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) listed Bitcoin futures in December, 2017, the listing by traditional exchange in Asia will be the first. As for Bitcoin, U.S. President Trump who took office in January has shown his support for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry, and the prices of Bitcoin are showing noticeable fluctuations.

The concept for Bitcoin futures by ODEX dates back to the final proposal that will lead to a vision for the future created by the Exchange Management Reform Council in October 2020. At that time, in line with the council’s recommendations, ODEX was incorporated and  have been working on listing precious metals and rice futures. According to the recommendations, as future vision after its incorporation, the following steps were envisaged:

[StageⅠ] As a futures exchange under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF)
Currently, the agricultural products listed on ODEX are Dojima Rice Average, U.S. Soybean, Corn 50 and Red bean futures. And when the recommendations were announced, regarding rice futures, regional brands such as Niigata-koshihikari, Akita-komachi, Miyagi-hitomebore were listed as trial. These products were scheduled to be listed permanently in August 2021, however, they were disapproved at that time. After that, again, it took three years to get Dojima Rice Average listed.

[StageⅡ] Obtaining approval from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
In addition to reforming management and building a business foundation through its incorporation, ODEX was proposed to apply for approval to list products such as precious metals and crude oil to METI, and then, precious metals were listed as trial in March 2023. So, as a result, [StageⅠ] and [StageⅡ]  were partially swapped chronologically.

[Stage Ⅲ] Obtaining approval from the Financial Services Agency (FSA)
In addition to products approved under Commodity Futures Act, ODEX aims to list products approved under Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and as a result, ODEX will expand the range of products that can be offered to customers. Therefore, Bitcoin futures is a plan in line with [StageⅢ].
Furthermore, the following plans are being considered for the future:

[Stage FINAL] Transition to an integrated exchange
ODEX with a well-organized product lineup as an integrated exchange aims to offer CFD of individual domestic and foreign stocks with high trading demand through connection with PTS－Proprietary Trading System.

With these phased plans as a backdrop, ODEX has been holding expert meetings since August 2024 to realize Bitcoin futures. The meeting consisted of eight experts from various fields, and it held eight times by December last year and finalized its recommendations on December 27.

Incidentally, as for CME Bitcoin futures, its average daily trading volume for January－September 2024 was approximately 15,000 and its trading open interest trading value has grown to around 11.6 billion dollars in October 2024. The transaction is guessed to bring in significant transaction fee income to CME. If yen-denominated Bitcoin futures becomes a reality on ODEX, there will be greater potential revenue growth opportunities.

In Japan, the number of trading accounts for physical crypto assets at cryptocurrency exchange service providers has increased dramatically in the past year, and in July 2024, the number reached 10.71 million accounts, exceeding 10 million for the first time. According to Japan Virtual and Crypto assets Exchange Association, the number of active trading accounts amounted to approximately 5.9 million－the total of individual and corporate customers as of the end of FY 2023 and deposits from users have reached a level of approximately 2.2 trillion yen as of August 2024.

Also, Bitcoin futures is highly useful from the perspective of protecting investors and ensuring fairness in transaction. The reason is that Bitcoin futures does not involve physical delivery, so there is no outflow of funds due to hacking and no concern about money laundering. If ODEX opens Bitcoin futures market in Asian hours, potential demand will be high as opportunities for Asian countries to participate in the trade emerge.

（Futures Tribune・issued March 11, 2025 ・no.3346）